


Teardrops On My Guitar

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-05
Updated: 2013-04-12
Packaged: 2017-12-07 13:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is infatuated with the blue-eyed boy in his Bio class. Louis won't shut up about his girlfriend. This is not constructive to either of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago and had it on tumblr for a few months. So, not plagiarised.

Harry hurried down the corridor towards the science rooms. He knew he shouldn’t be so eager to get to Biology. It was stupid, crazy, masochistic even. But he couldn't help the smiled that stretched across his face as he slipped into Lab 4 and saw the empty seat waiting for him in the back row. The seat next to a certain blue-eyed football player who Harry most certainly did  _not_ have a crush on. Really. His heart was just beating fast because he had practically run here from his locker.

He plonked himself down in his seat with a sigh. To be honest, Bio itself sort of sucked. The teacher spent half her time talking about her love life with the girls up the front and the other half on her laptop. That was fine, though. It meant Harry could focus all his attention on Louis Tomlinson, who, at this moment, was giving his a ridiculously happy grin.

‘Hey Hazza. How’s it going?’ Harry reminded himself to breathe.

‘I’m pretty good, Louis. Yourself?’

‘Fantastic.’ Louis smiled again and his whole face lit up. Harry felt vaguely like he was being throttled by this own brain.

‘Oh yeah? How come?’ Come on Harry, keep talking normally, now is not the time to start hyperventilating.

Louis smiled again. ‘I’m taking Lisa on a romantic getaway. She doesn’t know though, she thinks she’s going with her parents. But they’ve agreed to let me take her to Bournemouth for the weekend and we’re leaving right after the game tonight.’

‘Sounds- sounds great.’ Harry's stomach dropped. Lisa. Of course.

Lisa and Louis had been dating for about a month now, and it was the talk of the school. The football captain and the hottest girl in sixth form. It was cliche, yes, but Louis was so _weird_ for a football playerthat they made it seem interesting and unique. 

Harry realised Louis was still looking at him, so he plastered a smile onto his face, trying to make it as convincing as possible. Louis beamed back.

‘Thanks mate. Lucky I’ve got my licence now, eh? Should be a nice road trip.’ Harry tried not to let his mind wander to other people Louis could have a nice road trip with.

‘Mmmn.’

Louis had a rather dreamy look on his face. ‘Lisa’s really amazing, y’know? I can’t believe she’s my girlfriend sometimes.’

‘Neither can I.’ Harry mumbled. It really didn’t make all that much sense. He had tried to see the appeal but frankly, Lisa didn’t seem to have a personality. She was hot, yeah, and she didn;t seem unpleasant, but she was so _boring_. Louis, on the other hand… Louis was all personality. And he had nice hair, like shiny toffee. And sparkly eyes. And quite a spectacular-

‘Styles, Harry!’ Harry was jolted out of his daydream. ‘Here, miss.’

~~~~~

‘It should be a great game. The team is stronger than ever but they’ll still be a challenge for us, you know?’ Niall was, as usual, talking about football.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. ‘We're still on for pizza after you win?’

‘Of course we are. In fact, we’re going for pizza even if we lose. I’ll need to drown my sorrows in mozzarella.’ Niall grinned. ‘Hey, have you started that essay on Macbeth yet? I’m so confused, are we meant to talk about the themes or-‘

But Harry wasn’t listening any more. A flash of caramel hair and sparkling blue eyes had just swept past up the corridor.

Harry was vaguely aware that his mouth was probably hanging over before something collided with the side of his head.

‘What was that for?’ He asked indignantly.

Niall managed not to roll his eyes. ‘You’ve really got it bad for him, haven’t you, mate?’

Harry felt a blush creeping up his face. ‘Shut up. I don't have it bad for _anyone_.’

‘Harry.’ Niall put a hand on his shoulder. ‘How long have we been friends?’

Harry considered. ‘Like, six years?’

‘Right. And how long have you been madly in love with Louis Tomlinson?’

Harry was pretty sure his cheeks would burst into flames. ‘Um.’

Niall just shook his head. ‘Come on. I’ve got to head down to the pitch soon, let’s go find Liam.’

~~~~~

Niall ran up the field, dribbling the ball between his feet. There were only a couple of minutes left in the game and neither team had scored yet. The crowd was watching with bated breath, both teams hoping for a last-minute goal. Harry was sitting up on the hill which rose away from the field towards the school. He was trying to enjoy himself, but if he was honest, the only reasons he bothered coming to matches were to support Niall and Liam and to ogle Louis Tomlinson's arse in white shorts. Which was definitely worth being cold and muddy. As Harry tore his eyes away from Louis's exceptional bum, three things happened. Niall’s foot flicked out and the ball went flying across the ground to where the striker was waiting, the crowd started to scream, and the ref blew the whistle to mark the end of the game. It soon became apparent that Louis Tomlinson himself had scored the winning goal, sending the team through to the finals. Breaking into a grin, Harry allowed the crowd to pull him forwards across the pitch to where the team were exchanging sweaty hugs and jubilant high fives. He reached Niall just in time to see Louis wrap his arms around Lisa and kiss her full on the mouth. Harry's smile slipped. He felt sick. He had to remind himself to look happy as Niall pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. They had won, the team was going to the finals, for God’s sake Harry, pull yourself together. 

"Niall, not that I'm not proud of you, but I have a headache so I'm just going to head home, okay?"

Niall nodded. "Sure, mate. See you tomorrow, yeah?" 

By the time Harry got home, he actually did have a headache. He kicked his wet boots off by the door and and wandered wearily up the stairs, bed the only thought left in his head. Louis Tomlinson could wait. Harry had no energy left to feel anything at all. He was numb, he was cold, he wanted to sleep and never wake up. Right now, Louis and Lisa were probably on their way to Bournemouth while Harry was here alone in his dark room, falling into bed and huddling under the blankets to ward off the cold. And that was the way it would always be, because the captain of the soccer team doesn’t fall for his biology partner. He sticks with the pretty, thin, dull girl who never seems to do anything but pout, drink iced coffee, and hang off her boyfriend’s arm. And Harry was just the curly haired boy who faded into the background whenever anyone else was around. He curled tighter into his body, desperate not to feel because to feel meant pain. Harry lost consciousness just as the first tear spilled over his cheek and dripped into the mattress.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry overhears a phone conversation, and has a talk of his own with Liam.

It was Monday morning by the time Harry realised he hadn’t actually done any of his homework that weekend. Instead he had slept til noon both days, played FIFA by himself, and generally moped around the house. He didn’t really feel like doing much else.

 

Usually he would get a few texts from Louis over the weekend – just funny pictures of cats, or maybe something interesting Louis had seen in the street. Late at night, his phone would sometimes buzz as Louis sent him a philosophical question – _what do you think happens when we die?_ or _how do we know that we aren’t actually enslaved by pigeons?_  But this weekend the few texts he received were just to tell him that Niall was hungry and wanted to come over to clear his kitchen of food or Liam wanted to check a fact with him on their English essay – the English essay which Harry really should have started last week since it was due Wednesday. Even though Harry knew Louis was in Bournemouth with his girlfriend and definitely not thinking about him, I still felt like a kick in the gut every time he realised that Louis wasn’t the one contacting him.

This was definitely not healthy.

 

Getting read at the start of the week was a rhythm. _Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, out the door._ It was slightly soothing for Harry’s frazzled brain to slip into the routine, kissing his mother’s cheek before taking up a steady pace towards school, bag thumping rhythmically on his back, air just cool enough to make him feel alive. Usually he would swing past Liam’s place and they would walk the last five minutes together, but frankly Harry wasn’t in the mood for company and so he took the quieter route though the backstreets bordering the park. Louis would be at school today and he would be all happy after his weekend with Lisa and Harry would have to pretend to smile and- _oof._

 

Harry had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he had walked straight into something. No, _someone._ A someone who was clearly on the phone and was completely ignoring him.

 

The girl was sort of pretty and vaguely familiar, but it was her words that caught his attention. “I’m being ungrateful? Listen, Louis, I don’t care whether you meant it to be a nice surprise or not, you can’t just drag me away for the weekend. I had _plans._ And why did you think I’d want to go to _Bournemouth_ , of all places? Especially in October. You know I hate the cold and the rain. You’re so selfish sometimes! Look, whatever, I’m going to school now. We can talk later.”

 

Shit. Harry had walked straight into Louis’s girlfriend. He was pretty sure that had to be karma, or something. He’d never seen her before walking to school.

 

“Er- sorry for bumping you.” Harry muttered awkwardly, suddenly realising that he had just been standing there listening to her conversation.

 

The girl pursed her lips. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

 

Harry gave her a small shrug. He turned around and started walking towards school again. He was pretty sure that Lisa – because that was definitely Lisa – would have taken a different route to him after his display of awkwardness, but apparently she had decided to stick to the direction she had been heading in because a glance over his shoulder told him that she was several paces behind him, frowning at her phone. 

 

 _She really doesn’t deserve him._ Harry couldn’t help the unbidden thought from entering his brain. But, really, she didn’t. Louis had tried to take her on a romantic getaway and she was complaining about it? The girl definitely needed some sense knocked into her. If Louis had taken him to Bournemouth – even if it rained constantly all weekend – Harry would have been completely flattered. Not that he was jealous.

Okay, he was a little jealous.

 

But Louis was this incredible beautiful funny perfect human being and he deserved someone just as good. Not a girl who was- well, _Lisa._ Not a girl at all, in Harry’s opinion. Not him, either. Louis would always be too good for him. At least Harry would appreciate him, though. But now he could see the school gates and a flash of blond hair which could be Niall waiting for him and he needed to shut his brain off before he did something embarrassing, like tell Niall everything.

 

~~~~~

 

Harry couldn’t shut his brain off. Louis wasn’t in any of his morning classes but that didn’t stop him thinking about soft feathery hair and sparkly blue eyes and he wanted Louis so much that it was physically painful but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it because Louis didn’t like him like that. _Louis loves Lisa._ Harry reminded himself. _He told me so. He loves her._ The words hurt his ears and his brain and he reminded himself that he was in geography and sobbing on the floor wasn’t exactly an option right now. Not that Harry ever lay on his bedroom floor crying over Louis Tomlinson or anything. He was much more mature than that. Shaking his curls to try and clear his head, Harry leant over to Liam to see what they were meant to be learning.

 

Liam was worried about Harry. He was always a bit off in his own world, but today was taking that to a whole new level. Harry had frowned at his empty desk for the whole of geography, and had actually not noticed when Liam had been talking to him for at least the first half hour of class. Then he had suddenly seemed to snap out of it and started acting like nothing had happened, although he seemed to be far more interested in what the teacher was saying than he usually was.

Liam had hoped that Harry was just tired from the weekend. He had apparently been very busy, too busy to join the other boys for a _Toy Story_ marathon on Saturday night even. But he had never explained what he was doing. At break Harry was still acting strange, picking at his food without actually eating anything. Niall didn’t seem to notice, although Liam suspected that was just because he was preoccupied with his own morning tea. Food did tend to narrow the Irish boy’s perception of the people around him. Liam decided that he would simply have to ask Harry what was wrong, and hope that the other boy would open up to him.

 

~~~~~

 

Harry had a free period after lunch. He would usually have gone outside, maybe taken a walk around the football fields, but it had started to rain heavily and so he resigned himself to returning to the common room. There were enough comfy chairs and random pieces of furniture that he would be able to find a quiet corner with his thoughts. What Harry hadn’t expected, however, was for a strong hand to catch his arm as he rounded the last corner before the common room.

 

“Liam? Don’t you have music?”

 

Liam shrugged. “Skipped it. I think we need to have a talk.”

 

Shocked, Harry allowed Liam to pull him along as he headed off down a small hallway which went god-knows-where. _Liam is skipping class?_ Whatever he wanted to talk about had to be pretty serious, then. Liam simply didn’t skip class. Ever. He was the most studious person Harry knew. He did _homework._ Yet here he was, leading Harry up a narrow staircase before dropping down on some old gym mats.

 

Harry sank down next to him. “What’s up?”

 

Liam shifted uncomfortably. “Well, that’s sort of what I was going to ask you. You’ve been acting kind of weird today.”

 

“I’m fine.” Harry shrugged.

 

“Harry.” Liam tried not to roll his eyes. “I can tell that there’s something bothering you. If you don’t want to tell me what it is just say so, but you can talk to me about stuff, you know? I won’t judge you or tell anyone else. And no one comes up here so we won’t be disturbed.”

 

Harry frowned. Liam was skipping class to talk about feelings? This was so very much not what Harry had expected. He didn’t really _do_ feelings talk, anyway. He sort of preferred to keep it all bottled up and then break down on his bedroom floor. “I don’t know… I mean, of course I know, but it’s not all that important. It’s just- it’s just-”

 

Suddenly it all came pouring out. How he had been sitting next to Louis in science since the start of the year and they were sort of friends now (not that they ever really talked in person out of class) and somehow he had been stupid enough to develop a ridiculous crush on him even though Louis had a girlfriend and probably wasn’t interested in guys at all, and definitely not in Harry. For God’s sake, he talked to Harry about Lisa almost every lesson. It was so frustrating, sitting next to him every single day, making him laugh and talking to him and texting each other on weekends even if they weren’t quite friends exactly, more like – well, Harry didn’t even know. But all he knew was that he wanted Louis and he understood Louis and he had to sit there everyday while Louis took Lisa on romantic weekends away which she didn’t even appreciate. By the end of it his eyes felt a bit wet. He tried to wipe them without Liam seeing.

 

“Oh, Haz…” Liam gave him a ridiculous kicked puppy look. “I wish there was something I could do, you know. He’s- He doesn’t know what he’s missing.” It was kind of weird, because even though nothing had really changed, Harry felt a bit better. Liam’s arm was comforting around his shoulders, and his heart felt a little lighter. It was probably because now, at least, he had someone to share the burden.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews would be so deeply appreciated, thank you.


End file.
